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Why I care

I love what I do. Every day I bring stories to life and give voice to great characters. I play Bonnie Bennett, in the series, “The Vampire Diaries.” It’s a dream job.
Of course, the roles that I play aren’t real – they are the product of great writing and imagination. But there are real stories in the world that I know are important, and that I want to help tell. Stories that nobody is talking about. Stories that need to be told.

Spiraling levels of violence and the brutality of heavily armed criminal groups in Central America’s Northern Triangle – El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, have sent thousands of families on a desperate journey fleeing their homes. Women and children, accompanied and unaccompanied, are migrating northward in large numbers to all Central American countries, Mexico, and the United States, seeking safety.

Gang Violence

Unthinkable gang violence is increasing in Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Law enforcement has been unsuccessful in enforcing laws. Communities at large cannot trust or rely on the protection by local enforcement.

Ordinary people may be exposed to gang- violence simply because of being residents of areas controlled by gangs. Individuals, local businesses, buses and taxis may be subjected to demands for “renta” or a “war tax” (i.e. charging homes and businesses a significant amount of money for simply living in a neighborhood controlled by a gang) and threats of violence if refusing to comply with these demands.

Gang rivalries have resulted in deadly confrontations over territory affecting the local populations. People are getting violently murdered from attending the wrong school in the wrong gang territory.

Certain social groups are being specifically targeted. This includes people who are marginalized in society and, consequently, more vulnerable to forced recruitment, violence and other forms of pressure from gangs. Men and boys, women and girls are being exposed to unimaginable violence daily.

Relevance to America

Unlike other refugee emergencies in the world, this crisis is unfolding in relative close proximity to the United States, and the issues impact the United States in a variety of ways. These issues should be of importance to Americans for a variety of reasons.

Persistent violence and instability has resulted in a rise in asylum applications from the region directly impacting U.S. immigration. From 2008-2014, there has been a 1185% increase in asylum applications by Central Americans seeking refuge elsewhere in the region. The U.S. government data now indicates that 88% of women and children crossing the border are bona fide asylum-seekers. Alongside adults, children continue to migrate in large numbers.

There is a large Hispanic community in the U.S. - notably those who have personal or family connections to the Northern Triangle and Mexico. The Central American refugee emergency affects American communities and neighborhoods.

Finally, gang violence is not restricted to Central America. Some of the most dangerous Central American gangs originate and operate in the U.S. Americans should feel a sense of responsibility for the exported gang violence to the Northern Triangle.

Lack of Recognition

UNHCR is on the ground in the Northern Triangle helping families as they wait for their asylum applications to be processed, but this is not enough. We need to build awareness in the U.S. that the gang violence in the Northern Triangle is a refugee emergency.

Right now, the Central American refugee crisis is not being acknowledged as a refugee emergency. Despite the increasing flow, the U.S. and Mexico continue to ban and deport migrants from their borders.
In 2014, Mexico approved only 16% of asylum applications and its apprehension rate is proportional to the decrease in apprehensions on the U.S. side of the border. Detention in both the U.S. and Mexico persists, with the U.S. seeing a 300% increase in family detention as of this quarter. There are now reports of gang presence in Mexican detention centers.

Families are waiting in unbearable living conditions, many of who separated from their families, friends and communities, with just the clothes on their backs.

We are turning away too many, forcing some of the most vulnerable to return to brutal gang violence – it is a death sentence.